Temporary or semi-permanent support surfaces have been used for roadways, remote jobsites, industrial staging areas and the like, in an ever-increasing myriad of industries, such as the construction, military, oilfield, transportation, disaster response, utilities and entertainment arenas. These support surfaces are often made up of heavy duty, durable, all-weather, thermoplastic mats, which are reusable and interlock together to form the support surface.
In various scenarios, it may be beneficial to provide one or more illuminated signals from the support surface. For example, in some scenarios, it may be desirable to signal a driver or other equipment operator who is entering, exiting or located upon the support surface. For another example, there may be instances when it is desirable to signal other personnel on or near the support surface. The signal can have any desired purpose, such as indicating a path, boundary or environmental condition.
It should be understood that the above-described discussion is provided for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope or subject matter of the appended claims or those of any related patent application or patent. Thus, none of the appended claims or claims of any related application or patent should be limited by the above discussion or construed to address, include or exclude each or any of the above-cited features or disadvantages merely because of the mention thereof herein.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved systems, articles and methods useful for providing illuminated signals from a support surface having one or more of the attributes or capabilities described or shown in, or as may be apparent from, the other portions of this patent.